Twisted
by PugNTurtle
Summary: <html><head></head>Annie reflects on the events of Narco, Part 1. Then, something horrible happens.</html>


Title: Twisted

Author: Katie

Rating: PG for some bad words, but nothing worse than you hear on the show

Pairing: Annie/Jimmy UST

Disclaimer: I don't own Chase or any of the characters mentioned in this fic. Please don't sue!

Author's Note: So I wrote this a long time ago, after Narco Part 1 aired, before Part 2. Once the show was put on hiatus, I kinda lost inspiration. But seeing that NBC is remaining the rest of the season after all got me a little excited and a teensy bit hopeful. My thanks go to my friend Heather for the beta. I hope that you enjoy this fic. Please take a moment to review. It means the world to me!

~/~

What a day.

Deputy Marshal Annie Frost pulled up to the red light, sighing softly as she stared up at the crimson colored orb, wincing slightly as the breath pulled at her injured ribs. She hadn't been to the doctor, of course, and she seriously doubted that she would end up going.

It had been a really long day, one of the absolute worst in a long time. Besides the injury that would undoubtedly nag her for months to come, she had to deal with the fear that Cordova would come after her.

Annie was tough, tougher than most men, and she would never admit that she was scared of someone; however, she was human.

She knew that with damaged and bruised ribs it would be hard to fight off the drug kingpin. At this point, she could only hope that her team of US Marshals found him... before Cordova and his crew found her.

Tapping her fingers impatiently against the steering wheel, Annie let out an irritated breath as she waited for the light to change. The light seemed to be taking forever and that down time made her think about things that she didn't really want to think about... her vulnerabilities, her team being in danger, and most of all Jimmy. And Natalie. Natalie was always the white elephant in the room.

Unfortunately, along with her nagging thoughts came nausea that wouldn't go away. Annie took a deep breath, willing the churning in her stomach away.

~/~

_She knew as soon at the cameraman set the camera down that something wasn't right. Before she could draw her weapon, bullets were flying toward her. The first one struck her in the side, spinning her slightly. She managed to stay on her feet, but the second bullet struck her directly in the stomach, knocking her backwards. The wind was knocked out of her as she landed. __The injured Marshal__ tried to draw in breaths as chaos erupted around her. _

_Annie was briefly aware of Marco and Luke attempting to protect the crowd and of Pablo Cordova leaning over the bodies of his wife and son. _

_Everything started to blur, but Annie was swiftly bought back by the presence of her partner kneeling next to her, his hand covering her stomach. _

"_Talk to me, Boots. Talk to me!" There was a calm undertone to Jimmy's panicked voice. _

"_Vest caught. The vest," Annie managed. __Son of a bitch,__ Annie thought. __That didn't come out nearly as strong as she hoped. __She covered Jimmy's hand with hers briefly, the wave of pain clouding her judgment momentarily. The contact was quick, long enough to reassure Jimmy that she was still with him._

_Just as quickly as they had touched, Jimmy stood. Annie sensed more than saw him looking around, making sure the scene was secure. It was then that she could feel Cordova's eyes on her, and the Marshal flicked her gaze toward him. __Pablo Cordova__ was glaring at her, his eyes filled with hate and blame as he kneeled by his family members' dead bodies. _

_Annie held his gaze for several long moments, struggling to sit up. She managed to prop on an elbow, the pain almost causing her to pass out. The Marshal closed her eyes briefly, willing her body not to give out on her. She had already passed out once in front of the team, and she wasn't about to again. _

"_You will pay for this! You will pay!" Annie opened her eyes in time to see Cordova leap at her. She froze, staring up at him through pained eyes, defenseless. Luckily, though, Jimmy managed to grab him before her could get to Annie, shoving the angered criminal toward Marco, who dragged him away from the scene. _

_Annie struggled to roll to her knees, taking a long moment to try to catch her breath, as she leaned against the ground on all fours not really caring for the moment how ridiculous she looked. _

"_Annie, an ambulance is on the way," Luke said softly kneeling next to her. "Wait for it."_

_She vehemently shook her head in response, not trusting her voice. She waited a few more long moments for the pain to subside even a little bit, sticking her hand out toward the air. Luke realized what she was asking and without hesitation he grasped her elbow gently helping her to her feet. _

"_Annie, I don't think you should be standing," Jimmy fretted coming up next to his partner, grasping her other elbow. _

"_I'm…I'm fine," Annie managed hoarsely. "Just give me a minute. I'll be fine."_

"_Annie, an ambulance-"_

"_No ambulance," she whispered willing the nausea that was threatening to make an appearance away, "I'm fine."_

"_You could have broken ribs, internal bleeding-"_

"_Drop it, Jimmy," Annie's tone didn't hold any of the harshness that the words carried, __but __rather she was pleading. _

_He held her gaze evenly. __His hand lingered on her elbow for a few __long moments before he finally drew his hand away, flicking his eyes to Luke's hand to indicate that the newest member should do the same. _

_Hesitantly, Luke finally moved his hand and Annie stood there, attempting to control the hammering in her heart. _

_Seemingly out of nowhere, Daisy and Marco appeared. They both looked at Annie, wondering exactly how, with what had to at the very least be severely bruised ribs, was their leader standing. They knew better, however, than to ask. They had been in this position before, and knew that Annie would refuse to go to the hospital. _

_Silently, the quartet waited for their leader to talk. Annie drew in a long breath, hiding the roar of pain that accompanied. "Luke, Daisy, secure the perimeter," she finally said not really trusting __the sound of her own voice. It hurt too much to talk. And besides, her voice was wavering __and she hated that. _

"_Marco, check the shooters to try to figure out who they are. Jimmy, you and I will talk to Mr. Cordova-"_

"_No!" Jimmy, Marco, and Daisy's voices all mixed together. __Out of the corner of her eye__ she could see that Luke hadn't voiced his protest but he looked unhappy about __her last statement__. _

_Raising an eyebrow, she looked at her team, waiting for someone to voice their opinion. Of course it was Jimmy. _

_It was always Jimmy. _

"_Annie, I'll talk to Cordova," Jimmy said. "The only thing that you're doing is going to the hospital."_

"_I'm not going to the hospital," Annie protested. "I'm fine-"_

"_That's why you haven't moved your hand from your ribs?" Jimmy asked __as __Annie glanced down. She had been unconsciously cradling her ribs __and at that moment she chose to move her hand._

"_I'm fine," Annie repeated. She looked at each member of the team, seeing the worry and fear on their faces. _

_She was used to jumping headfirst into danger; she was used to the repercussions. However, it wasn't until the Carson Puckett case, did she realize that when she got hurt, it affected the whole team. "Hey, guys," she added softly. "I'm still here."_

_One by one, they nodded slowly, walking off to begin processing the scene. Only Jimmy remained__, looking at Annie._

_She sighed as deeply as possible, cringing at the pain shooting through her stomach and ribs. Annie glanced away, biting her lower lip. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw an ambulance pull up. She looked back at Jimmy seeing the worry in his eyes. _

"_I'll get checked out," Annie finally relented. "But I'm not going to the hospital."_

_Jimmy laughed slightly pulling Annie into a gentle hug. "I didn't expect anything else, Boots," he said. _

~/~

Annie blinked, her attention finally drawn back to the light. It was still red. For a moment, she wondered if it had turned green but her daydreaming caused her to miss the change. The road was lonely and quiet. Annie was probably lucky that an irritated driver hadn't pulled up behind her and leaned on the horn, scaring the crap out of her.

She briefly thought of what had happened once she finally relented on seeing the EMTs. They helped her to shrug off her shirt in the privacy of the ambulance, also cutting her bullet proof vest off.

The Kevlar had certainly done its job; stopping the bullets millimeters from her skin. Nevertheless, it still left black and blue marks that Annie knew would grow into even larger bruises that would take seemingly forever to fade.

At the EMTs request, Annie laid back biting the inside of her cheek as the woman pressed against her stomach. It hurt like a bitch, but she wasn't going to show that it hurt.

The EMT's hand moved to the side pressing against where the first bullet had struck. That one didn't hurt as bad as the one that had hit her right in the stomach, but it was still tender.

"Everything feels normal and you're thin enough so that I don't see any abnormalities," the EMT finally said. "However, I strongly recommend you go to the hospital. You could have internal injuries or broken ribs that only an X-ray or MRI can see."

Annie had smiled slightly wondering why the EMT was wasting her breath. She was there when Annie was struck in the back of the head with a plank of wood by a suspect. Annie had put up a fight then. Annie wondered why the EMT even brought it up.

"Thank you, ma'am, but I'll be fine. Just get me the release forms," Annie replied politely.

The EMT smiled slightly in return reaching behind her, plucking a clipboard off one of the shelves. "I didn't expect anything else, Marshal," she replied loosely. "Just take care of yourself and please, don't hesitate to go to the hospital if anything hurts."

Annie nodded signing her name in a flourish. She grabbed her shirt, waiting until it was covering her face to grimace in pain.

As much of a façade she put up, Annie was still human, and she could show pain…but only to herself.

The Marshal shifted slightly, as carefully as possible to avoid pulling at her ribs. The longer she sat, the more they hurt. She really couldn't wait for that hot bath and whisky that she and Jimmy had discussed. There was a fifth of Crown Royal sitting in her bag calling her –

It didn't even register to Annie that the screech of tires and crunching metal was her car until her felt her door being wrenched open. Somehow through her cloudy brain she knew that this was not a Good Samaritan; she knew that something was very wrong as she was yanked out of the damaged Escalade.

Her legs collapsed under her as multiple pairs of hands pulled her out of the SVU. Annie knew if her arms weren't being gripped so harshly, she would have face planted to the ground.

Instinct, more than her body, finally told her to fight after her hands were bound behind her back with what was undoubtedly zip ties as a piece of duct tape covered her mouth. She struggled, her ribs pulling and sore body protesting the movement, but she still managed to utter an indignant cry of pain against the duct tape. Her eyes widened as she saw Victor Torres cover her head with a black cover.

Annie struggled even harder, yelling out muffled threats and curses as she was dragged to another car and thrown in the back. She sucked in a breath as her injured ribs protested and she cried out again as a person kneeled over her, pinning her to the floor of the vehicle. She couldn't breath, panic rising in her chest, as she fought to think through the aching pain in her ribs. If they weren't broken before, they certainly were now…

Her last thought before she passed out was that she hoped – she prayed – that Jimmy, Luke, Marco, and Daisy would find her in time.


End file.
